“No point is more central than this- that empty space is not empty. It is the seat of the most violent physics.”
John Wheeler, quantum physicist.
In 2008, less than six months after Wheeler died at age 96, the world saw, in financial markets, the violence that Wheeler had seen when studying quantum physics.
The source of the violence was the same.
An invisible space.
Invisible scenarios that had been regarded by financial markets as ” irrelevant”,“impossible” and having “zero chance of happening” happened. Big institutions were brought to their knees. People became homeless. Some lost their earning of a lifetime. It was not just a financial catastrophe.
It was also a human one.
I asked myself a simple question - if what is called “empty space” in quantum physics, “zero” in the world of finance, has the potential to grow into something so large and destructive, then is it possible that what we call “zero” is also pregnant with the potential to take mankind to limitless positive experiences?
So began my expedition on empty space and the pregnant zero.
My project seeks to understand what is emptiness. Is it a pause between the movement of two breaths, the gap in time between two discrete sounds? Is it the space around an objects which defines its boundary?
Is it possible that the universe is continuous and “full” but our limited senses simply do not see the continuum that lies in the “empty space” in between?
I am interested in the ways in which quantum phenomena can influence how people think. How they experience silence, gaps, and whether they are aware of what is invisible to them in their daily life. Can an exploration of these gaps help us realise limitless potential?
I approach this subject through three lenses - the lens of physicists, artists and the masters of ancient Indian. My enquiry took me to the library at Central Saint Martins, to the bookshelf of my grandparents home and to the rich fabric of the internet.
John Wheeler, quantum physicist.
In 2008, less than six months after Wheeler died at age 96, the world saw, in financial markets, the violence that Wheeler had seen when studying quantum physics.
The source of the violence was the same.
An invisible space.
Invisible scenarios that had been regarded by financial markets as ” irrelevant”,“impossible” and having “zero chance of happening” happened. Big institutions were brought to their knees. People became homeless. Some lost their earning of a lifetime. It was not just a financial catastrophe.
It was also a human one.
I asked myself a simple question - if what is called “empty space” in quantum physics, “zero” in the world of finance, has the potential to grow into something so large and destructive, then is it possible that what we call “zero” is also pregnant with the potential to take mankind to limitless positive experiences?
So began my expedition on empty space and the pregnant zero.
My project seeks to understand what is emptiness. Is it a pause between the movement of two breaths, the gap in time between two discrete sounds? Is it the space around an objects which defines its boundary?
Is it possible that the universe is continuous and “full” but our limited senses simply do not see the continuum that lies in the “empty space” in between?
I am interested in the ways in which quantum phenomena can influence how people think. How they experience silence, gaps, and whether they are aware of what is invisible to them in their daily life. Can an exploration of these gaps help us realise limitless potential?
I approach this subject through three lenses - the lens of physicists, artists and the masters of ancient Indian. My enquiry took me to the library at Central Saint Martins, to the bookshelf of my grandparents home and to the rich fabric of the internet.
